The Long Golden Hair
by TLC Middle School Language Art
Summary: A different version of Rapunzel.


The Long Golden Hair

" _Why was I born in this world?_ " the pale little girl sang, touching the old freezing wall lightly. " _Why is everything like this_?" She combed her long golden hair. Her hair lay on the smooth floor, as bright as spun gold, as long as a river flowing in the forest, and as soft as silk cloth. She paused and roamed to the window, her hair trailed behind her. The girl took a deep breath of fresh air and continued singing, " _Why-I did a stupid wish_?" The graceful but lonely voice flew in the air, resounding in the tall, cool tower that was built in the middle of the forest.

The girl propped herself up easily and sat on the edge of the window. The wind blew on her and made her face became as white as the snow. Her yellow green eyes blinked like injured butterflies fluttering and looking at the forest that stretched to the horizon. Her lovely pet Pascal who was a chameleon climbed to her thin shoulder. She gave it a wry smile and her cherry mouth opened again, " _did you ever see a chameleon weep, when leaves-_ " She paused and hesitated because a word-"Hello"-suddenly appeared in her ears. Her slender hands remained closely and her teeth bit her lilac lips. She shook her head but the gruff muffled voice appeared again, "Hello, that beautiful lady who is sitting on the window. Can you hear me?" The girl was shocked. "Ah~~~" she screamed as she fell down from the narrow window. Fortunately, her long hair was heavier than herself and made her hang in the air. She grabbed her hair and climbed up to the window as quick as a squirrel. Sitting at the edge again, she looked down at the direction of the voice. There was a handsome man with luxuriant suit standing at the tower bottom. His brown short hair was standing firm on the top of his head and he gave her a strange smile. The man apologized, "Ma'am, I am sorry that I scared you. But, can I visit your-well, your tower?"

She glared at him for one second and gathered all her strength to throw her heavy hair out of the window, just as she always did for many people came to this tower just like this man. Looking at the falling sparkle hair that was long enough to be a rope ladder, the man caught it carefully. The hair was just like gold. He started to climb up hard and slid down frequently because of the dark-green smooth moss that covered the bricks. His skin kept producing lots of sweat and caused the journey to be more difficult.

Finally, he reached the window tiredly. Looking at the girl who was now standing right in front of him but did not give him any help. He asked questioningly, "Don't you want to be kind?" The girl inclined her head, and the man continued, "You know, everyone wants to be glad helping others. Why don't you?" She combed her hair for a long time. Finally, she answered derisively, "They only wear a type of mask calls kindness; you cannot know what they really look and think like."

There was a long silence. The girl signed and kept playing with her hair. At last, she stopped her action with a snort and looked at him. She asked wearily, "Well, who are you? I am Rapunzel, the girl of the tower. Also this is my pet Pascal." The chameleon climbed up to her head and stuck out its tongue. The man replied haughtily, "I am Flynn Rider, the second prince in the Nabatean Kingdom." He turned his face to the other side and his eyes were shining, "The Corona King invited every prince in Nabatean to visit his domain. His Majesty told us that there was a man who could make everything gold and he believed that the man was now living in this forest. Well, I beg the story is true and His Majesty knows more details because almost everything in his palace is made in gold. So I came here to find this magical person." He paused and looked at the girl tentatively. He continued, "You must have lived in here for a long time, do you know anything about him?"

Rapunzel gazed at the Prince emotionless; her hands shaking behind her hair and her heart beating fast as if a rabbit was jumping inside it. She turned her back on him and said decisively, "I think this is not the place you should stay. You better go now." The man opened his mouth with his wide eyes and shouted, "Hey, you still did not answer me!" But the girl started to walk to a door without answering.

Flynn's face turned red and he ran to the girl angrily. He caught her thin shoulder and forced her to look up at the man. He took a deep breath and asked, "Answer me. Where is the magical man?" The girl gazed at him with a cold vision. Water was dropping down from the ceiling, no furniture was in this room, Rapunzel's pet was still climbing down and up on her body. The air was cooler than before, something had changed, he thought. She closed her eyes for a while and whispered something only she could hear. The girl raised her eyebrows and asked slowly, "Why do you want to know about him?" The man froze; he murmured, "I…I don't know." Rapunzel pushed his hands away from her body and walked to a set of steps that were connected to the roof of the tower. "If you only want to know something about the magical man, come with me," she said coldly.

She went up the stairs with her hair that was bumping behind her. The hair looked like it would never end; the man thought and followed her uneasily. He hesitated during the walk because of his greedy dream of becoming the richest man in Nabatean Kingdom. At first, he thought he would never reach it. But now, God gave him a change. If he found the magical man, he would have a lot of gold without regret. He would not give up, never, ever, even if he lost his life. The man looked up at the end of the steps with his eyes turning bright and clean. He walked powerfully and steadily, his footsteps echoed in the tower.

They both got on the housetop and faced at each other. Everything was bathed in the gray, cold moonlight and nothing was stirring around.

Suddenly, Rapunzel closed her eyes and sang sadly, " _All those days watching from the windows, all those years outside looking in. All the time I already know, just how stupid I have been_." Her golden hair shone as fiery as the sun and even covered the moonbeams, " _Now I am here, blinking in the moonlight. Now I am here, making their wishes come true. Standing here, it's all so clear, nothing I can change-_ "

A crystal aureate tear dropped down from her right eye. She smiled with two crescent eyes tragically and said, "Well, the man who you want to see is right in front of you. Certainly, I am not man, I am a girl." Flynn's face sacredly pale, his weak legs shook and made him knell down unexpectedly. Rapunzel continued, "I can give you a precious wish but you must offer your life in exchange. Will you, my greedy prince?" "Hah ha ha ha!" she laughed ironically when she saw him nodded to her absolutely without thinking.

Her magical hair creeped to the man and wrapped his body tightly. "Wait, I still did not say my wish!" he shouted nervously, swinging his body to escape the golden monster and tears brimmed in his eyes, "You cannot go back on what your promise! Oh, please! Please…"

"I know what you want; you want to be the richest man in the world, yeah? But don't you understand that you cannot keep the gold when the Heavens take you back?" The girl looked at him mournfully; the man had already thrown his dignity away, he was kneeling on the floor and just begging for a bit of promise. She shook her head helplessly and controlled the hair to tie up the poor ignorant man. " _Abrir da janela proflssao mostrando seu navels atual de Alquimia,_ " Rapunzel whispered a mysterious curse and the man's body started turning into gold.

She turned her head to avoid his pale trembling face and looked at the moon that was hidden behind some hazy clouds. "I have seen a lot of people who had similar dreams as yours. Maybe you will like to hear my past," she said to the man. Without agreement, she began her story regretfully, "Well, I was an ordinary girl before I came to this tower, but not the same level of common that you think. Surprisingly, I had the same power and status as yours, which meant I am the lost princess of Corona Kingdom and the first princess of the bad King who told you my story. My hair quality was so crude that even though I used one hundred hairpins, it was always a mess. One day, I sat under the moonlight and wished I would have a golden hair: the longest, softest, and most special hair in the world. Suddenly, a fairy flew in front of me and made my dream come true. Then, then…" she stopped and could not go on. The golden tears kept dropping down from her eyes, one by one, knocking on the dirty floor. She took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and went on difficultly, "My…my hair changed, it had the magic! My families were surprised and happy about this. They used me to spread their wealth and power! I realized that I was only an instrument to them and how evil the people were. So I ran away from my home. Oh, not my home, it was their house." She coughed hard, "Oh, why? Why did I make such stupid wish? If I did not, I would not know everything…oh, just why?"

Rapunzel pulled her hair tremblingly and sagged wearily on the cold floor. She knew that Flynn had already become a shining copper man during the talk. She tried to stand up, but the hair was too heavy for her, at least for now.

She used her last energy to prop up herself and sat on the rusty handrail. The girl put her right hand in the pocket carefully and took out a sharp scissor. She touched it distressingly and made a brave decision. She cut her hair decisively. The golden hair danced in the air cheerfully and suddenly became the earth. Rapunzel squeezed out a bit of free smile and fell down from the tower.

There was a voice coming from the death dark.

" _And at last I see the light._

 _And it's like the fog has lifted._

 _And at last I see the light._

 _And it's like the sky is new._

 _And it's warm and real and bright._

 _All at once everything looks different._

 _Finally I am free._ "


End file.
